Here is American Classic Images' pic of the DeWitt. The 1968 date would seem to be a little early given that * The French Connection * is shown as a coming attraction on the front of the marquee.
Charles Teitel, who operated the World Playhouse until it closed in 1971, died on April 4, according to the Los Angeles Times. The obituary says that he succeeded his father, Abraham Teitel, who opened the cinema in 1933, and that he fought many battles with Chicago’s film censorship board, culminating in a victory in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1968. Full obit (including a picture with Russ Meyer and Roger Ebert) here.
Theater will go dark after this week due to a dispute between the operators and an investor. Time Out Chicago blog post here and a Chicago Tribune story here.
The site is in Egg Harbor Township (not to be confused with Egg Harbor City), but during the time that the drive-in was open it would have had a Pleasantville mailing address and was shown as a Pleasantville theater in newspaper listings.
The potential reopening—as a bar/restaurant and music venue—is running into community opposition over parking and rowdiness concerns. Philadelphia Inquirer story here.
The marquee restoration looks like it’s finished, complete with what appears to be red and blue neon piping (hard to be sure driving by in daylight). A very nice job.
Unfortunately, Forbes magazine is calling Canton one of America’s ten fastest-dying cities. But they did use this nice picture of the Palace in their slide show: View link
Some years the Moorlyn has stayed open all winter, other times it hasn’t. The other Ocean City theater, the Strand, has been seasonal only for as long as I can remember.
If the date is accurate the theater was playing very late run films, as the marquee is showing “Auntie Mame” (1958) and “The Day They Robbed the Bank of England” (1960).
Times of Trenton story says they are restoring the marquee; a conscious decision was made to restore it rather than replace it to preserve the historical integrity of the building (what we like to hear). Story here.
A spring near Mineral Wells, called the Crazy Woman Well, produced mineral water containing salts with natural laxative properties. In the 1920s and ‘30s the salts were sold as a cure-all called “Crazy Water Crystals,” and apparently the “Crazy” theme was very big in the town—thus the name of the theater.
The tall tower in the aerial photo is City Hall, which is still there. The building with the large dome is the old Camden County courthouse, which was torn down in the ‘50s and replaced by a Lit Brothers department store, which closed in the '70s and was renovated into office space for Camden County.
The flea market was shut down last month after an unexpected hazard was discovered: WWII-vintage shells buried on the site. Turns out the Army used the site for testing during the war, including lobbing howitzer shells from Philadelphia across the Delaware River to land in Palmyra. Philadelphia Inquirer story here and a small picture from 1985 here.
The story says the drive-in opened in 1957 and closed in 1986.
“Red and Blue” was not the theater’s name, but I think the two screens were designated as the “red” screen and the “blue” screen.
The marquee in the flea market picture is not the one that was visible from Route 73 when the theater was in operation; it looks like it is set up inside the entrance, and may have been used to direct customers to their desired screen.
This was a National Amusements drive-in; their other drive-ins in South Jersey were the Starlite in Gloucester City and the Atco in Atco. In the ‘80s or '90s they were planning an indoor multiplex for this site but never did build it.
This picture suggests that the theater was converted to a bowling alley at some time.
Picture here. Dated 1962, looks like it was closed by then.
Here is American Classic Images' pic of the DeWitt. The 1968 date would seem to be a little early given that * The French Connection * is shown as a coming attraction on the front of the marquee.
Charles Teitel, who operated the World Playhouse until it closed in 1971, died on April 4, according to the Los Angeles Times. The obituary says that he succeeded his father, Abraham Teitel, who opened the cinema in 1933, and that he fought many battles with Chicago’s film censorship board, culminating in a victory in the U.S. Supreme Court in 1968. Full obit (including a picture with Russ Meyer and Roger Ebert) here.
Per the Inquirer, the cleanup has been finished and the flea market reopened last weekend.
Philadelphia Inquirer story on the reopening here.
Theater will go dark after this week due to a dispute between the operators and an investor. Time Out Chicago blog post here and a Chicago Tribune story here.
Blog entry with a small picture here.
I think that would have been the Ventnor Plaza shopping center on Wellington Avenue—don’t remember what the theaters were called.
The site is in Egg Harbor Township (not to be confused with Egg Harbor City), but during the time that the drive-in was open it would have had a Pleasantville mailing address and was shown as a Pleasantville theater in newspaper listings.
The potential reopening—as a bar/restaurant and music venue—is running into community opposition over parking and rowdiness concerns. Philadelphia Inquirer story here.
Future of this building is uncertain as the city of Trenton has proposed closing all four of its branch libraries for budgetary reasons.
The marquee restoration looks like it’s finished, complete with what appears to be red and blue neon piping (hard to be sure driving by in daylight). A very nice job.
Unfortunately, Forbes magazine is calling Canton one of America’s ten fastest-dying cities. But they did use this nice picture of the Palace in their slide show:
View link
Some years the Moorlyn has stayed open all winter, other times it hasn’t. The other Ocean City theater, the Strand, has been seasonal only for as long as I can remember.
A distant view of the Admiral’s marquee, dated 1963:
http://www.shorpy.com/node/3773
If the date is accurate the theater was playing very late run films, as the marquee is showing “Auntie Mame” (1958) and “The Day They Robbed the Bank of England” (1960).
Times of Trenton story says they are restoring the marquee; a conscious decision was made to restore it rather than replace it to preserve the historical integrity of the building (what we like to hear). Story here.
A spring near Mineral Wells, called the Crazy Woman Well, produced mineral water containing salts with natural laxative properties. In the 1920s and ‘30s the salts were sold as a cure-all called “Crazy Water Crystals,” and apparently the “Crazy” theme was very big in the town—thus the name of the theater.
The tall tower in the aerial photo is City Hall, which is still there. The building with the large dome is the old Camden County courthouse, which was torn down in the ‘50s and replaced by a Lit Brothers department store, which closed in the '70s and was renovated into office space for Camden County.
The flea market was shut down last month after an unexpected hazard was discovered: WWII-vintage shells buried on the site. Turns out the Army used the site for testing during the war, including lobbing howitzer shells from Philadelphia across the Delaware River to land in Palmyra. Philadelphia Inquirer story here and a small picture from 1985 here.
The story says the drive-in opened in 1957 and closed in 1986.
Originally a Budco theater. First feature shown here was “Goodbye Columbus.”
You could almost make a book out of that!
A nice 2007 exterior photo here.
“Red and Blue” was not the theater’s name, but I think the two screens were designated as the “red” screen and the “blue” screen.
The marquee in the flea market picture is not the one that was visible from Route 73 when the theater was in operation; it looks like it is set up inside the entrance, and may have been used to direct customers to their desired screen.
This was a National Amusements drive-in; their other drive-ins in South Jersey were the Starlite in Gloucester City and the Atco in Atco. In the ‘80s or '90s they were planning an indoor multiplex for this site but never did build it.
Another shot of the Star marquee may be found here.